Searching For The Answer
by Agentmanatee
Summary: Cenadon Nightsong embarks on a journey to find out what happened to his mate. Short one-shot.


Cenadon trudged wearily though the knee-deep snow, his cloak pulled tightly around his body to shield him from the biting wind. He kept his head down, the hood of the cloak obscuring his features from view. There had been two clear days without any snow flurries, but with his luck the weather would not stay nice for much longer. Already the sun had been hidden by dense cloud cover. If he had been using his brain, he would have waited for the spring thaw to search for the body of his mate, Naon, but far too much time had passed already since he had gone missing. Memories had faded in the few witnesses that had last seen the missing druid, and it was a long shot that his body would ever be recovered. But at the urging of this close friend and lover Yildiz (known as Luna to her acquaintances), Cena had hired an investigator out of Stormwind to help him discover what had happened to his mate last year in the forlorn land of Dragonblight.

Cen lifted his head slightly, scanning his surroundings as he followed the human investigator and his two tracking hounds. "How much further?" he called out to the man.

The human shrugged. "The Tuskarr said your friend was sent out this way on a tip that the other missing druid had been sighting in the area. If there is any scent or trace to pick up, the hounds will find it."

Cena shook his head in frustration. "I personally searched every inch of this place last year with a large search team. There is no way we could have missed a body or other evidence in this area."

The human glanced over his shoulder at the elf, a smug smirk on his face. "You didn't have the hounds with you then, did you? Besides, you said that you found his necklace out this way, didn't you? Wouldn't hurt to look again."

Cen scowled, and the man's smirk widened. They both knew who was right. Puffing up his chest, Cen muttered, "I'm going to fly ahead and scout the area," before shifting into his stormcrow form in a poof of feathers. He pumped his wings quickly, launching himself into the air far above the human. The wind was even worse up here, and it took all of Cen's concentration to keep flying straight and not get blown off into oblivion. He did as he said he would, flying ahead slightly and scanning the ground for any threats ahead. Since Malygos was defeated, and the Lich King had been killed, things had been relatively quiet in the North. The fact that Naon had been killed up here... it did not make much sense at all. Unless he was overtaken by a small bit of scourge, or remnants of the Cult of the Damned... Cena looked down suddenly as he heard the human hollering his name. One of the dogs was nowhere to be seen, and Cen swallowed thickly as he dove down towards the other man. As he grew closer, he noticed a small cave that was nearly indiscernible against the landscape, and could hear the other dog growling from within it. A large bolder sat near the opening, blocking it slightly. It seemed to have shifted recently, most likely from the events of the Shattering. The second Cena landed he shifted forms in a flash, feathers sticking wildly out of his hair as he gave the human a worried glance.

The human gestured inside the small alcove in the rock-face that the dog had disappeared into. "Must have picked up a scent. Think you can squeeze in there, elf?" Cena gave the human a dirty look before he shifted again, this time into his panther form. With ease he slinked into the narrow opening of the cave, navigating the small twists and turns as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Sometimes there were perks to being a druid, and he could not help but give a small feline smirk as he heard the human struggling his way into the cave with a lantern in hand. As the rays of light from the lantern filled the cavern, Cen was relieved to see that it was much larger than originally anticipated, and he shifted out of form to inspect all of the nooks and crannies. The dog was lying down in the far end of the cave, the fur on his back raised and a low growl emitting from his throat. As Cena slowly approached the area, a sense of dread washed over him and he had to close his eyes tightly. Something was not right.

The human raised his eyebrows at the druid, pushing past him to move towards the area the dog was guarding. Cen pressed himself back against a wall, taking in great gasping breaths, trying to calm himself down. The human let out a low whistle as he moved into one of the hidden nooks in the cave. shaking his head slightly as the lantern light reflected off of what could only be bone. "Yep, definitely a body in here. Want to check it out?"

Cenadon shook his head rapidly, scrambling to get out of the cave as quickly as possible. The second he hit the open air he immediately shifted into a stormcrow, launching into flight to get as far away from the cave as possible. A million questions raced through his head, but he did not dare step foot inside of that place of death again. He flew for an hour, possibly two, trying to get up the nerve to return. Not only to identify the body, but to face that smug human again. As he neared the location, he spotted the human making camp outside of the cave. With a small sigh, Cen descended down towards him, landing lightly atop a rock. The man raised a hand in greeting, before returning to building a fire.

"Feel free to stay out here, lad, while I go recover everything later. I know it can be difficult to deal with finding the body of a friend," the human said softly, glancing over at the druid-bird.

Cen hopped down from the rock, gliding over towards the fire before returning to his normal form. With a sigh, he seated himself and helped the man build the fire. "I can't say I was entirely truthful with you about everything. That being said, I don't think I will be able to look at the body, but I can tell you things that would identify him as Naon." The human nodded, so Cen continued. "He would have been wearing thick leather clothing. Multiple layers, most likely; he was dreadfully sensitive to the cold. He was last seen with large pauldrons made with tusks and metal studs. Those would hopefully still be intact. He never went anywhere without a headdress made of stag antlers. He was missing part of his fourth and fifth finger on his left hand... and he wore a ring of vines on his left middle finger. If- if the ring is still intact, I would like it, please. Um... he had broken his left leg twice, so there would probably be some sign of that. And if you could tell me how he died... I would appreciate it."

The human nodded, grabbing his pack and lantern and moving to go back into the cave. "Broken leg, missing fingers, ring, cause of death. Got it. I can't imagine you want to stay out here for long, so once I get a good look at the body I'll wrap everything up and we can start the journey back. Won't take me too long." With that he disappeared into the cleft in the rocks. Cen stared idly into the fire, and as the moments passed he grew more and more angry with himself for being such a coward. With a growl, he pushed himself to his feet, clambering back into the cave to look for himself. What could it harm? The thought of Naon's death already plagued his dreams. Perhaps this would finally give him closure.

The human glanced up in surprise, but Cen waved him off and approached the remains. The bones were positioned on their side, curled up into a fetal position. Cen felt his heart wrench, fighting back tears as he knelt down to examine them closer. The flesh had mostly been picked clean by insects and small animals that had gotten into the cave once the boulder had shifted, and he was thankful that the smell of death was not overwhelming. Most of the clothing had been eaten away as well, but remnants of the pauldrons he had spoken of lay off to the side. Cen reached out and gently took the skeleton's hand in his own, choking back a small sob as he saw the telltale missing fingers. The ring he had spoken of was surprisingly intact, the vines still green and living; apparently he had done a decent job when crafting it for his mate. With as much strength as he could muster, Cen pulled the ring from his dead mate's finger before nodding at the human. "It is definitely him. Can you tell how he died?"

"So far as I can tell, he was hit over the head with something large," the man stated quietly, pointing to a large depressed fracture on the skull. "He most likely did not see it coming, and did not feel any pain. If it did not kill him instantly, it certainly knocked him out and he simply slipped away peacefully." Cena looked over at the man, not quite sure if he was telling the truth or not; from the look of the fractures, the death was rather violent, but he appreciated being told that it was quick and painless. The man reached over and grabbed a small leather pack, tossing it to Cen. "I found this near the remains as well. It seems like it is in fairly good shape, maybe you can find something in there that will answer more questions."

Cena glanced down at the bag in his hands, his heart nearly stopping now. He would recognize it anywhere, having been on many an adventure with the dead druid. "Of course. Thank you. Now, should we wrap him up and get moving? I don't think the snow is going to hold off for much longer, and I don't want to be stuck in here with the body."

With a nod, the man started pulling out supplies from his own bag: rope, canvas, and a thick foldable firm base to keep the bones in their correct position until they could get a casket for the remainder of the journey. While the man was distracted, Cen pulled off his glove and quickly slipped the ring onto his left middle finger. The vines shifted to form to the larger finger perfectly, and Cen shook his head sadly as he pulled the glove back on. He had so many questions... so many that would likely remain unanswered, unless Naon's journal was in his pack. With a long sigh, he helped the human begin the arduous process of carefully wrapping the remains in preparation for the long journey ahead of them.

_And thus ends the saga of Cenadon Nightsong and Naon Stormsong. May their eternal love serve as inspiration for us all. _


End file.
